THE first ever allotment plots could be opened in Hemsby as early as October 2010 after the village's parish council decided to rent land from a local landowner.

THE first ever allotment plots could be opened in Hemsby as early as October 2010 after the village's parish council decided to rent land from a local landowner.

The decision has delighted members of Hemsby Allotments Association which has been looking for a site for months and has sought the council's help to achieve its aims.

The three acre site partitioned off for allotments on the Maize Maze in Yarmouth Road will be run entirely by the parish council.

Noel Galer, the association's chairman, said 90 villagers had either joined the association or expressed an interest in renting a plot. The association had considered renting land and running the plots itself and had looked at the Maize Maze site and land near the Village Hall, but Mr Galer was pleased the council was going to take on the allotments instead.

He said: “If they are going to handle the whole thing that is ideal for us because we won't have to get bogged down with administration. We can get on with digging and planting the plots.”

Parish council chairman Bob Reynolds said the council first became interested in renting the land after being contacted by Hemsby resident Peggy Sutton after she had put an appeal in the Mercury's Village Life section for villagers to contact her if they were interested in renting plots.

The council is paying landowner Richard Hirst �800 a year per acre in rent - money that will be recouped from rents charged to allotment holders and not from taxpayers.

The size of plots is measured in units of known as rods, with one rod being the equivalent of 16.5ft.

A 10 rod plot, next to the Jet service station, is being offered at an annual rent of �100, while a five rod plot will cost �50 a year.

However, there will be no other facilities, such as toilets, on site so allotment holders would have to use the service station's toilets.

Mr Reynolds added the rental charges covered not just the council's rent costs, but also the insurance and administrative costs.

He said: “We are pleased to secure the allotment land. There are a lot of people these days who want to grow their own food and we are just encouraging that trend.”